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A  Suggestion  for  a  New  Edition  of 
Butler’s  Hudibras . 


BY 

EDWARD  CHAUNCEY  BALDWIN 


[Reprinted  from  the  Publications  of  the  Modern  Language  Association  of 
America,  xxvi,  3.] 


The  Modern  Language  Association  of  America 
1911 


Return  this  book  on  or  before  the 
Latest  Date  stamped  below.  A 
charge  is  made  on  all  overdue 
books. 

University  of  Illinois  Library 


A  SUGGESTION  FOR  A  NEW  EDITION  OF 
BUTLER’S  HUDIBRAS 


Butler’s  Hudibras  has  been  edited  many  times,  and  much 
erudition  has  been  shown  in  explaining  the  wit  of  that 
remarkable  burlesque.  Yet,  curiously  enough,  the  most 
obvious  method  of  annotation  has  hitherto  been  entirely 
overlooked.  This  would  have  been  to  utilize  the  abundant 
material  bequeathed  to  us  by  Butler  himself  in  the  form 
of  prose  “  characters,”  which  were  published  only  after  his 
death — material  that  throws  a  most  interesting  light  upon 
the  poet’s  method,  and  at  the  same  time  clears  up  many 
obscurities  in  the  mock-epic.  These  “  characters  ”  were 
written  between  1667  and  1669 — five  or  six  years  after  the 
appearance  of  the  first  part  of  Hudibras ,  but  were  not  col¬ 
lected  and  published  till  1759.  Even  then,  only  121  out 
of  187  were  printed  in  Thyer’s  edition  of  The  Genuine 
Remains  in  Prose  and  Verse  of  Mr.  Samuel  Butler.  The 
remaining  60  have  lain  undisturbed  in  the  British  Museum 
as  aAddition  No.  32625-6,”  till  the  industry  of  a  modern 
scholar  has  at  last  unearthed  and  published  them.1  The 
whole  collection  conforms  closely  to  the  fash  ion  jaf  writing 
“  characters”  that  was  prevalent  all  through  the  seventeenth 
Century.2  The  character-sketch,  or  “ character”  as  it  came 
to  be  called  in  that  age,  was.,  a  short  account,  usually  in 

1  Samuel  Butler:  Characters  and  Passages  from  Note-Books,  edited  by  A. 
E.  Waller,  M.  A.,  Cambridge  University  Press,  1908. 

2E.  C.  Baldwin,  BenJonson’s  Indebtedness  to  the  Greek,  Character-Sketch, 
in  Modern  Language  Notes,  November,  1901 ;  The  Relation  of  the  English 
Character  to  its  Greek  Prototype ,  Publications  of  the  Modern  Language  Associa¬ 
tion  of  America,  Vol.  xvm,  No.  3  ;  La  Bruyere’s  Influence  upon  Addison, 
ibid.,  Vol.  xii,  No.  4  ;  The  Relation  of  the  Seventeenth  Century  Character  to 
the  Periodical  Essay,  ibid.,  Vol.  xix,  No.  1. 

528 


a  b  *1 

O  K  { 


SUGGESTION  FOR  A  NEW  BUTLErA  HUDIBRAS  529 

prose,  of  the  properties,  qualities,  or  peculiarities,  that  serve 
to  individualize  a  type.  And  such  these  of  Butler  are. 
Moreover,  the  style  in  which  they  were  written  was  that 
already  fixed  by  tradition — a  style  that  combined  in  the 
fullest  possible  degree  wit  with  brevity.  The  special  signifi¬ 
cance  of  Butler’s  contribution  to  the  literature  of  character- 
writing:  lies  in  the  fact  that  in  these  Characters  Butler  in  a 
leisurely  way  and  in  prose  portrayed  the  same  types  that  he 
had  previously  in  Hudibras  satirized  in  a  more  condensed 
form,  and  in  verse.  Each  of  the  objects  of  the  satire  in 
Hudibras  appears  among  the  Chai'acters ,  but  of  course 
dissociated  from  its  surroundings,  and  separated  from  the 
narrative.  In  this  way  the  objects  of  the  satire  are  more 
clearly  brought  before  us  in  the  prose  than  in  the  poetry. 
It  is  as  if  the  actors  in  a  burlesque  had  one  by  one  left  the 
stage  and  obligingly  posed  for  a  photographist.  And  as 
such  a  series  of  pictures  would  serve  to  emphasize  certain 
details  of  costume  and  of  gesture  that  might  escape  the  notice 
of  a  spectator  at  the  play,  so  these  statuesque  delineations  of 
the  types  Butler  had  in  mind  reveal  more  clearly  than  does 
the  mock-epic  the  particular  objects  of  the  author’s  satire. 

They  prove,  among  other  things,  that  the  popular  concep¬ 
tion  of  Hudibras  is  a  mistaken  one.  The  poem  is  ordinarily 
described  as  a  kind  of  versified  Don  Quixote,  satirizing  the 
Presbyterians.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Butler  borrowed  very 
little  from  Cervantes  except  the  general  framework  of  the 
story,  and  the  satire  is  far  more  than  ridicule  of  the  Presby¬ 
terian  party.  It  is  a  satire  upon  the  society  of  the  age. 
The  age  deserved  it.  With  all  due  respect  for  the  Puritans, 
with  a  full  recognition  of  the  incalculable  value  of  their 
service  to  the  cause  of  civil  liberty,  espoused  though  it  was 
because  to  them  it  was  the  cause  of  religion,  we  must 
recognize  also  that  the  Commonwealth  period  had  toward 
its  close  degenerated  into  one  of  shameless  hypocrisy.  The 


530 


EDWARD  CHAUNCEY  BALDWIN 


forms  of  godliness  had  become  fashionable.  Indeed  they 
were  more  than  fashionable,  they  became  obligatory.  One 
of  the  first  resolutions  of  the  “  Barebones  Parliament  ”  was 
that  no  man  should  hold  office  till  the  House  should  be 
satisfied  of  his  real  godliness.  The  forms  of  this  godliness 
were  easy  to  counterfeit.  The  dark  clothes,  the  nasal  twang, 
the  biblical  language,  the  abhorrence  of  art,  and  the  con¬ 
tempt  for  learning  that  were  characteristic  of  “  the  Saints  ” 
were  only  too  easily  imitated  by  men  to  whom  the  power  of 
godliness  that  had  made  the  earlier  Puritans  invincible  on 
the  battle  field  and  in  the  hall  of  debate  was  unknown.  The 
result  was  that  by  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
{hypocrisy  had  become  a  national  vice. 

X  Hardly  less  vicious  were  the  excesses  of  fanaticism  that 
appeared  among  those  new  sects  which  toward  the  close  of 
the  Commonwealth  period  seemed  more  intent  upon  proving 
their  zeal  than  their  sanity.  There  were,  to  mention  only  a 
few,  the  Quakers  who  believed  it  a  violation  of  Christian 
sincerity  to  designate  a  single  person  by  a  plural  pronoun.1 
There  were  the  Fifth  Monarchy  men,  who  believed  and 
taught  that  the  four  great  monarchies  mentioned  in  the  book 
of  Daniel  were  immediately  to  be  succeeded  by  a  fifth,  when 
Christ  should  reign  temporally  on  the  earth.  There  were 
the  Muggletonians,  or  disciples  of  Ludovic  Muggleton,  the 
tipsy  tailor,  who  went  about  denouncing  eternal  torments 
against  those  who  refused  to  credit  his  assertion  that  God 
was  just  six  feet  high,  and  that  the  sun  was  exactly  four 
miles  from  the  earth.  There  were  also  the  Seekers,  who 
thought  themselves  so  sure  of  salvation  that  they  deemed  it 

1  “  Their  gospel  is  an  accidence, 

By  which  they  construe  conscience, 

And  hold  no  sin  so  deeply  red 
As  that  of  breaking  Priscian’s  head.” 

Hudibras,  P.  11.,  C.  2,  11.  221-4. 


SUGGESTION  FOR  A  NEW  BUTLER^  HUDIBRAS  531 


needless  for  them  to  conform  to  ordinances  either  human  or 
divine,  who  thought  it 

u  ...  .  ridiculous  and  nonsense 
A  saint  should  be  a  slave  to  conscience, 

That  ought  to  be  above  such  fancies, 

As  far  as  above  ordinances.”  1 


f 


Against  religious  hypocrisy  and  sectarian  fanaticism  alike 
Butler  waged  relentless  war.  Upon  Presbyterians,  and  all 
that 

“  .  .  .  .  various  rout 
Of  petulent  capricious  sects” 


into  which  the  Presbyterian  party  came  to  be  divided 
Butler  poured  his  merciless  ridicule.  Nor  was  it  against 
hypocrisy  in  religion  alone  that  he  exercised  his  wit.  He 
scourged  hypocrisy  in  every  form,  though  putting  into  the 
most  prominent  place  what  he  regarded  as  the  worst  hypoc¬ 

risy  of  all.  Among  the  shams  that  he  lashed  were  false 
learning,  masquerading  as  the  true  ;  charlatans,  posing  as 
physicians ;  politicians,  hiding  their  self-seeking  under  an 
ostentatious  display  of  public  spirit ;  plagiarists,  parading  as 
their  own  their  thefts  from  other  men’s  books  ;  cowards, 
hiding  their  timidity  beneath  a  show  of  bravado ;  the  pre¬ 
tensions  and  pedantries  of  learning  ;  the  sham  dignities  of 
ambassadors ;  the  sophistries  of  lawyers ;  the  quackeries  of 
astrologers — all  these  he  ridiculed.  And  perhaps  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  by  ridicule  “  he  laughed  a  frantic 
nation  into  sense.”  2 


1  Hudibras,  P.  II.,  C.  2,  11.  247-250. 

2  11  Unrival’d  Butler  !  Blest  with  happy  skill 

To  heal  by  comic  verse  each  serious  ill, 

By  wit’s  strong  lashes  Reason’s  light  dispense, 

And  laugh  a  frantic  nation  into  sense  !  ” 

An  Essay  on  Epic  Poetry ,  William  Hayley,  1782,  Ep.  in. 


8 


532 


EDWARD  CHAUNCEY  BALDWIN 


By  revealing  hypocrisy  as  the  single  theme  of  Butler’s 
satire,  the  Characters  emphasize  the  essential  unity  of  the 
epic — a  unity  somewhat  obscured  by  the  discursive  treat¬ 
ment,  and  by  the  fact  that  the  narrative  is  scarcely  sufficient 
to  hold  the  attention  of  the  reader.  They  show  that  in  spite 
of  the  apparent  lack  of  unity  in  the  poem,  Butler  really  did 
follow  the  method  of  the  Latin  satirists  in  choosing  for  his 
theme  some  one  vice  and  subordinating  everything  else  to 
it.1  Naturally,  the  resultant  picture,  as  a  representation  of 
life,  is  a  distorted  likeness.  But  Gilfillan  is  quite  unfair  in 
his  censure  of  Butler  2  for  a  failure  to  recognize  beneath  the 
ludicrous  religious  fopperies  of  the  Parliamentarians  their 
splendid  courage  and  their  noble  faith.  To  blame  Butler  for 
not  presenting  a  true  picture  of  the  Puritans  of  his  time  is 
as  unjust  as  it  would  be  to  condemn  Juvenal  for  his  arraign¬ 
ment  of  women  in  his  sixth  satire,  for  it  is  to  be  presumed 
that  there  were  in  Rome  in  the  first  century  A.  D.  some 
good  women,  though  Juvenal  takes  no  account  of  them  in 
his  attack  upon  the  general  frivolity  of  the  sex  during  the 
age  of  Roman  decadence.  By  the  very  nature  of  the  literary 
form  that  the  satirist  adopts  as  his  medium  of  expression, 
he  is  limited  to  presenting  a  series  of  pictures  that  shall 
exemplify  some  particular  folly  or  vice,  and  only  that.  The 
satire  must  always  be  like  a  series  of  family  portraits,  the 
faces  all  revealing  some  hereditary  and  persistent  character- 

1  Dryden,  who  derived  the  rules  governing  the  construction  of  satire 
from  the  practice  of  the  Latin  satirists  Horace,  Juvenal,  and  Persius,  says 
in  his  Discourse  concerning  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  Satire :  ‘  *  The  poet  is 
bound,  and  that  ex  officio,  to  give  his  reader  some  one  precept  of  moral 
virtue,  and  to  caution  him  against  some  one  particular  vice  or  folly. 
Other  virtues,  subordinate  to  the  first,  may  be  recommended  under  that 
chief  head  ;  and  other  vices  or  follies  may  be  scourged,  besides  that  which 
he  principally  intends.  But  he  is  chiefly  to  inculcate  one  virtue,  and  insist 
on  that.” 

2  In  the  Introduction  to  his  edition  of  Butler’s  Poetical  Works. 


SUGGESTION  FOR  A  NEW  BUTLER^S  HUDIBRAS  533 

istic,  or  like  a  rogues’  gallery,  where  all  the  pictures  show 
the  same  criminal  taint.  That  the  Hudibras  is  a  satire  upon 
hypocrisy  exemplified  in  typical  representatives  of  the  society 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  rather  than  merely  an  attack 
upon  an  already  vanquished  political  party,  is  clearly  shown 
by  even  a  casual  reading  of  the  Characters. 

What  Butler  did  when  he  wrote  the  Characters  was  to 
separate  the  constituent  elements  of  the  satire  of  Hudibras , 
and  develop  each  independently  in  prose.  Often  he  para¬ 
phrased  the  lines  of  the  epic,  and  in  a  few  instances  he 
quoted  from  the  poem  a  particularly  neat  couplet  in  which 
he  felt  a  pardonable  pride,  as  when  he  ends  the  character  of 
a  Zealot  with  this  sentence  : 

“  He  is  very  severe  to  other  Men’s  sins,  that  his  own  may 
pass  unsuspected,  as  those,  that  were  engaged  in  the  Con¬ 
spiracy  against  Nero,  were  most  cruel  to  their  own  Con¬ 
federates,  or  as  one  says, 

Compound  for  Sins  he  is  inclin’d  to 
By  damning  those  he  has  no  mind  to.”  1 

By  such  a  dismembering  of  the  epic  he  revealed  more 
clearly  the  parts  of  which  it  was  composed,  just  as  wrecking 
a  building  reveals  its  construction  much  more  clearly  than 
does  any  superficial  examination  of  the  edifice  in  its  integrity. 
He  shows  clearly  that  in  its  construction  he  had  adopted  a 
method  which  was  a  combination  of  the  methods  of  the  two 
classes  of  satirists  that  flourished  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
As  has  been  pointed  out,2  there  was  the  political  satire 
closely  connected  with  the  political  and  religious  contro¬ 
versies  of  the  age,  full  of  partisan  witticisms,  and  of  bitter 

1  Quoted  with  a  slight  variation  from  Hudibras,  P.  i.,  C.  1,  11.  215-16. 

2  Alden,  The  Rise  of  Formal  Satire  in  England  under  Classical  Influence , 
Publications  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  1899. 


534 


EDWARD  CHAUNCEY  BALDWIN 


attacks  upon  individuals.  Secondly,  there  was  the  phenom¬ 
enal  development  of  the  satiric  character-sketch  with  its 
emphasis  upon  character  analysis,  and  its  portrayal  of  human 
types.  By  adapting  the  prose  character-sketch  to^the  pur- 
poses  of  political  satire,  Butler  anticipated  Dryden.  _  By 
combining  the  methods  of  the  writer  of  characters  with  that 
of  the  political  satirist  Butler  contributed  to  the  permanency 
of  his  work,  avoiding  the  ephemeralness  that  belongs  almost 
inevitably  to  all  political  satire,  by  making  the  appeal 
depend  in  part  at  least  upon  the  universal  and  timeless 

interest  in  human  character,  rather  than  upon  transient 

phases  of  national  politics.  Had  he  acquired  also  the  com¬ 
pactness  and  the  reflective  manner  of  the  Latin  satirists,  had 
he  reproduced  the  manner  of  Juvenal,  for  example,  as  he 
reproduced  in  some  degree  his  spirit,  he  might  have  written 
a  satire  with  all  the  classical  dignity,  which  was  lacking  in 
Hudibras,  but  which  we  find  in  Absalom  and  Achitophel . 

Besides  their  usefulness  in  explaining  Butler’s  satiric 
method,  the  Characters  possess  a  value  to  the  modern  editor 
in  elucidating  the  text  of  Hudibras.  No  poetry  of  the 
seventeenth  century  calls  for  so  much  annotation,  because 
no  poetry  of  that  age  has  become  so  unintelligible.  Though 
the  satire,  because  it  was  directed  against  shams,  and  because 
shams  were  not  peculiar  to  that  age,  does  possess  a  certain 
permanence  of  appeal,  still  it  shares  to  a  considerable  extent 
the  limitations  of  all  satiric  writing.  The  satire  is  directed 
against  a  vice  in  which  the  society  of  the  seventeenth  cen¬ 
tury  had  no  monopoly,  it  is  true ;  but  that  vice  manifested 
itself  in  ways  that  are  now  obsolete  and  forgotten.  Doctor 
Johnson  in  his  Lives  of  the  English  Poets  says  of  Butler’s 
Hudibras : 

“Much  therefore  of  that  humour  which  transported  the  last  century 
with  merriment  is  lost  to  us,  who  do  not  know  the  sour  solemnity,  the 
sullen  superstition,  the  gloomy  moroseness,  and  the  stubborn  scruples  of 


SUGGESTION  EOR  A  NEW  BUTLER^S  HUDIBRAS  535 


the  ancient  Puritans ;  or,  if  we  knew  them,  derive  our  information  only 
from  books,  or  from  tradition,  have  never  had  them  before  our  eyes,  and 
cannot  but  by  recollection  and  study  understand  the  lines  in  which  they 
are  satirized.  Our  grandfathers  knew  the  picture  from  the  life;  we  judge 
of  the  life  by  the  picture.” 

The  picture  needs  an  explanation  like  those  pictorial  keys 
that  used  to  accompany  engravings  that  were  popular  in  the 
last  century.1 

Such  a  key  to  the  understanding  of  Hudibras  is  furnished 
by  the  Characters .2  Here  practically  all  the  types  that  are 
described,  and  even  those  briefly  referred  to  by  seemingly 
casual  allusions  in  the  poem,  are  found  classified  and  ticketed 
with  their  proper  designations.  Ralph,  for  example,  who  is 
ordinarily  said  to  represent  the  Independents,  is  clearly 
seen,  when  we  examine  the  passages  in  which  he  figures,  to 
be  composed  of  characteristics  taken  from  eight  types,  which 
in  the  Characters  are  drawn  at  full  length  and  labeled. 
Thus  the  Characters  show  Ralph  to  be  an  ex-tailor  turned 
politician ;  as  regards  his  religious  beliefs,  an  hypocritical 
Anabaptist ;  with  a  loquacious  bent,  hence  an  haranguer  and 
a  ranter,  and  finally,  because  of  his  superstitious  ignorance 
coupled  with  his  pretensions  to  mystically  acquired  knowl¬ 
edge,  an  astrologer  and  a  Rosycrucian  philosopher. 

To  show  the  relation  of  the  Characters  to  Hudibras ,  I 
excerpt  from  the  epic  certain  lines  descriptive  of  the  charac- 


1  These  engravings  most  of  us  recall  as  having  formed  a  part  of  the  par¬ 
lor  splendors  of  some  New  England  homestead.  They  represented  a  group 
of  people,  who,  perhaps,  had  never  met  in  the  body,  and  who  seemed  even 
in  the  picture  a  little  awkward  and  ill  at  ease,  standing  or  sitting  in  angu¬ 
lar  attitudes,  apparently  for  the  express  purpose  of  showing  their  faces. 
For  the  identification  of  the  faces  there  hung  beside  the  engraving  a  small 
outline  sketch  in  which  were  numbers  corresponding  to  a  numbered  list  of 
the  persons  represented. 

2  That  the  Characters  furnish  a  complete  explanation  of  all  the  obscuri¬ 
ties  in  the  poem,  like  the  uKev  to  the  Scriptures  ”  in  use  among  some  of 
our  Christian  brethren  is  not,  of  course,  meant  to  be  implied. 


536 


EDWARD  CHAUNCEY  BALDWIN 


teristics  and  opinions  of  Ralph,1  placing  at  the  foot  of  the 
pages  in  the  form  of  notes  the  passages  from  the  Characters 
that  are  significant. 

A  Squire  he  had,  whose  name  was  Ralph, 

That  in  th’  adventure  went  his  half. 

Though  writers,  for  more  stately  tone, 

Do  call  him  Ralpho,  ’tis  all  one  ; 

And  when  we  can,  with  metre  safe, 

We’ll  call  him  so,  if  not,  plain  Ralph  ; 

For  rhyme  the  rudder  is  of  verses, 

With  which,  like  ships,  they  steer  their  courses.2 
An  equal  stock  of  wit  and  valour 
He  had  laid  in ;  by  birth  a  tailor  ; 

Thy  mighty  Tyrian  queen  that  gained, 

With  subtle  shreds,  a  tract  of  land, 

Did  leave  it,  with  a  castle  fair, 

To  his  great  ancestor,  her  heir  ; 

From  him  descended  cross-legged  knights, 

Famed  for  their  faith 3  and  warlike  fights 
Against  the  bloody  Cannibal, 

Whom  they  destroyed  both  great  and  small. 

This  sturdy  squire  had,  as  well 
As.  the  bold  Trojan  knight  seen  hell,4 

1  Ralph  was  selected,  not  because  he  alone  exemplifies  the  usefulness  of 
the  Characters  as  a  source  for  notes  on  the  text  of  Hudibras ,  but  because  he 
serves  as  well  as  any  of  the  others  would,  and  because  to  treat  in  this  way 
all  the  persons  that  figure  in  the  epic  would  require  too  much  space. 

2  “When  he  writes  Anagrams,  he  uses  to  lay  the  Outsides  of  his  Verses 
even  (like  a  Bricklayer)  by  a  line  of  Ryme  and  Acrostic,  and  fill  the 
Middle  with  Rubbish. — In  this  he  imitates  Ben  Jonson,  but  in  nothing 
else.” — A  Small  Poet. 

“When  he  writes,  he  commonly  steers  the  Sense  of  his  J^ines  by  the 
Rhyme  that  is  at  the  End  of  them,  as  Butchers  do  Calves  by  the  Tail. 
For  when  he  has  made  one  Line,  which  is  easy  enough  ;  and  has  found  out 
some  sturdy  hard  Word,  that  will  but  rhyme,  he  will  hammer  the  Sense 
upon  it,  like  a  Piece  of  hot  Iron  upon  an  Anvil,  into  what  Form  he 
Pleases.  ’  ’  — Ibid. 

3  “He  lives  much  more  by  his  Faith  than  good  Works;  for  he  gains 
more  by  trusting  and  believing  in  one  that  pays  him  at  long  running,  than 
six  that  he  works  for,  upon  an  even  accompt,  for  ready  money.” — A  Taylor. 

4  “  He  calls  Stealing  damning ,  by  a  Figure  in  Rhetoric  called  the  Effect 
for  the  Efficient,  and  the  Place  where  he  lodges  all  his  Thieveries  Hell,  to 
put  him  in  mind  of  his  latter  End.” — Ibid. 


SUGGESTION  FOR  A  NEW  BUTLER^  HUDIBRAS  537 


Not  with  a  counterfeited  pass 
Of  golden  bough,1  but  true  gold  lace. 

His  knowledge  was  not  far  behind 
The  knight’s,  but  of  another  kind, 

And  he  another  way  came  by  ’t ; 

Some  call  it  Gifts,  and  some  New-light  ; 

A  lib’ral  art  that  costs  no  pains 
Of  study,  industry,  or  brains. 

P.  i.,  C.  1,  11.  457-484. 

Quoth  Ralplio,  ‘  Nothing  but  th’  abuse 
Of  human  learning  you  produce  ; 

Learning,  that  cobweb  of  the  brain, 

Profane,  erroneous,  and  vain  ; 

A  trade  of  knowledge  as  replete, 

As  others  are  with  fraud  and  cheat ; 

An  art  t’  incumber  gifts  and  wit, 

And  render  both  for  nothing  fit ; 2 

P.  i.,  C.  3,  1337-1344. 

His  wits  were  sent  him  for  a  token, 

But  in  the  carriage  crack’d  and  broken. 

Like  commendation  nine-pence,  crook’ t 
With — to  and  from  my  love — it  Look’t. 

1  “  The  great  Secret,  which  they  can  prove  to  be  the  golden  Bough,  that 
served  .Eneas  for  a  pass  to  go  to  Hell  with.” — An  Hermetic  Philosopher. 

2  “He  cries  down  Learning,  as  he  does  the  World,  because  it  is  not 
within  his  Reach,  and  gives  unjust  Judgment  upon  that,  which  he  under¬ 
stands  nothing  of  ...  .  The  prodigious  Height  of  Confidence,  he  has 
arrived  to,  is  not  possible  to  be  attained  without  an  equally  impregnable 
Ignorance.” — An  Anabaptist. 

“He  calls  his  supposed  Abilities  Gifts  ....  He  owes  all  his  Gifts  to 
his  Ignorance,  as  Beggars  do  the  Alms  they  receive  to  their  Poverty.”  — 
A  Fanatic. 

“  And  this  he  finds  useful  to  many  Purposes  ;  for  it  does  not  only  save 
him  the  Labour  of  Study,  which  he  disdains  as  below  his  Gifts,  but 
exempts  him  from  many  other  Duties,  and  gives  his  idle  Infirmities  a 
greater  Reputation  among  his  Followers  than  the  greatest  Abilities  of  the 
most  Industrious.” — An  Hypocritical  Nonconformist. 

“.  .  .  he  and  his  Brethren  have  with  long  and  diligent  Practice  found 
out  an  Expedient  to  make  that  Dullness,  which  would  become  intolerable 
if  it  did  not  pretend  to  something  above  Nature,  pass  for  Dispensations , 
Light ,  Grace,  and  Gifts.” — Ibid. 


538 


EDWARD  CHAUNCEY  BALDWIN 


He  ne’er  consider’d  it,  as  loth 
To  look  a  gift-horse  in  the  mouth  ; 

And  very  wisely  would  lay  forth 
No  more  upon  it  than  ’twas  worth. 

But  as  he  got  it  freely,  so 
He  spent  it  frank  and  freely  too. 

For  saints  themselves  will  sometimes  be, 

Of  gifts  that  cost  them  nothing,  free.1 
By  means  of  this,  with  hem  and  cough, 

Prolongers  to  enlighten  snuff, 

He  could  deep  mysteries  unriddle, 

As  easily  as  thread  a  needle  : 2 

P.  i.,  C.  1,  11.  485-500. 

’Tis  a  dark-lanthorn  of  the  spirit, 

Which  none  see  but  those  that  bear  it  : 

A  light  that  falls  down  from  on  high, 

For  spiritual  trades  to  cozen  by  : 

An  ignis  fatuus,  that  bewitches, 

And  leads  men  into  pools  and  ditches, 

To  make  them  dip  themselves,  and  sound 
For  Christendom  in  dirty  pond  ; 

To  dive  like  wild  fowl,  for  salvation. 

And  fish  to  catch  regeneration.3 

1  “  He  is  very  free  of  his  faith  because  he  comes  easily  by  it ;  for  it  costs 
him  no  consideration  at  all,  and  he  is  sure  he  can  hardly  part  with  it,  for 
less  than  it  is  worth.” — A  Credulous  Man. 

2  “He  gathers  Churches  on  the  Sunday,  as  the  Jews  did  Sticks  on  their 
Sabbath,  to  set  the  State  on  Fire.  He  humms  and  hahs  high  Treason,  and 
calls  upon  it,  as  Gamesters  do  on  the  Cast  they  would  throw.  He  groans 
Sedition,  and,  like  the  Pharisee ,  rails,  when  he  gives  Thanks.” — A  Fifth- 
Monarchy-Man. 

3  “  He  controuls  his  fellow  Labourers  in  the  Fire  with  as  much  Empire 
and  authority,  as  if  he  were  sole  Overseer  of  the  great  Work ,  to  which  he 
lights  his  Header  like  an  ignis  fatuus ,  which  uses  to  mislead  Men  into 
Sloughs  and  Ditches  ;  .  .  .  .” — An  Hermetic  Philosopher. 

“  He  finds  out  Sloughs  and  Ditches,  that  are  aptest  for  launching  of  an 
Anabaptist ;  for  he  does  not  christen,  but  launch  his  Vessel.” — An 
Anabaptist. 

“He  does  not  like  the  use  of  Water  in  his  Baptism,  as  it  falls  from 
Heaven  in  Drops,  but  as  it  runs  out  of  the  Bowels  of  the  Earth,  or  stands 
putrefying  in  a  dirty  Pond.” — Ibid. 


SUGGESTION  FOE  A  NEW  BUTLEB^S  HUDIBEAS  539 


This  light  inspires  and  plays  upon 
The  nose  of  saint,  like  bagpipe  drone,1 
And  speaks  through  hollow  empty  soul, 

As  through  a  trunk  or  whisp’ring  hole, 

Such  language  as  no  mortal  ear 
But  spiritual  eaves-droppers  can  hear. 

P.  i.,  C.  1,  11.  505-520. 


Have  they  invented  tones  to  win 
The  women,  and  make  them  draw  in 
The  men,  as  Indians  with  a  female 
Tame  elephant  inveigle  the  male  ? 2 

R  i.,  C.  2,  11.  585-8. 

Thus  Ralph  became  infallible, 

As  three  or  four  legg’d  oracle, 

The  ancient  cup  or  modern  chair ; 

Spoke  truth  point  blank,  though  unaware. 

For  mystic  learning  wondrous  able 
In  magic  talisman,  and  cabal,3 
Whose  primitive  tradition  reaches, 

1  “His  Tongue  is  like  a  Bagpipe  Drone,  that  has  no  Stop,  but  makes  a 
continual  ugly  Noise,  as  long  as  he  can  squeeze  any  Wind  out  of  him¬ 
self.” —  An  Haranguer. 

2  “  The  pity  of  his  suppos’d  sufferings  works  much  on  the  tender  sex  the 
sisters,  and  their  benevolence  is  as  duly  paid  as  the  husbands  ;  for  whatso¬ 
ever  they  are  to  their  spouses,  they  are  sure  to  be  his  helpers,  and  he  as 
sure  to  plow  with  their  heifers.” — A  Silenc'd  Presbyterian. 

“And  the  better  to  set  this  off,  he  uses  more  artificial  Tricks  to  improve 
his  Spirit  of  Utterance  either  into  Volubility  or  Dullness,  that  it  may  seem 
to  go  of  itself,  without  his  Study  or  Direction,  than  the  old  Heathen 
Orators  knew,  that  used  to  liquor  their  Throats,  and  harangue  to  Pipes. 
For  he  has  fantastic  and  extravagant  Tones,  as  well  as  Phrases,  ...  in  a 
Kind  of  stilo  recitativo  between  singing  and  braying  ;  .  .  .” — An  Hypo¬ 
critical  Nonconformist. 

3  “For  they  will  undertake  to  teach  any  Kind  of  mysterious  Learning  in 
the  World  by  Way  of  Diet ;  and  therefore  have  admirable  Receipts,  to 
make  several  Dishes  for  Talisman,  Magic,  and  Cabal,  in  which  Sciences  a 
Man  of  an  ingenious  Stomach  may  eat  himself  into  more  Knowledge  at  a 
Meal,  than  he  could  possibly  arrive  at  by  seven  Years  Study.” — An 
Hermetic  Philosopher. 


540 


EDWARD  CHAUNCEY  BALDWIN 


As  far  as  Adam’s  first  green  breeches.1 
Deep-sighted  in  intelligences, 

Ideas,  atoms,  influences  ; 

And  much  of  terra  incognita, 

Th’  intelligible  world  could  say  ; 2 
A  deep  occult  philosopher. 

As  learn’ d  as  the  wild  Irish  are, 

Or  Sir  Agrippa,  for  profound 
And  solid  lying  much  renown’d  :3 
He  Anthroposophus 4  and  Floud, 

And  Jacob  Behmen5  understood  ; 

Knew  many  an  amulet  and  charm, 

That  would  do  neither  good  nor  harm  ; 

In  Rosicrucian  love  as  learned, 

As  he  that  vere  adeptus  earned.6 

1  “(He)  derives  the  Pedigree  of  Magic  from  Adam’s  first  green  Britches 
because  Fig-leaves  being  the  first  Cloaths,  that  Mankind  wore,  were  only 
used  for  Covering,  and  therefore  are  the  most  ancient  Monuments  of  con¬ 
cealed  Mysteries.” — Ibid. 

2  “  They  are  better  acquainted  with  the  intelligible  World,  than  they 
are  with  this  ;  and  understand  more  of  Ideas  than  they  do  of  Things. 
This  intelligible  World  is  a  kind  of  Terra  incognita ,  a  Psitlacorum  Begio,  of 
which  Men  talk  what  they  do  not  understand.  They  would  have  us  be¬ 
lieve  that  it  is  but  the  Counterpart  of  the  elementary  World  ;  and  that 
there  is  not  so  much  as  an  individual  Beard  upon  the  Face  of  the  Earth, 
that  has  not  another  there  perfectly  of  the  same  Colour  and  Cut  to  match 
it.”—  Ibid. 

“  Democracy  is  but  the  Effect  of  a  crazy  Brain  ;  ’ tis  like  the  intelligible 
World,  where  the  Models  and  Ideas  of  all  Things  are,  but  no  Things  ;  and 
’twill  never  go  further.” — Ibid. 

5  “  He  adores  Cornelius  Agrippa  as  an  Oracle,  )Tet  believes  he  under¬ 
stands  more  of  his  Writings  than  he  did  himself  ;  for  he  will  not  take  his 
own  Testimony  concerning  his  three  books  of  occult  Philosophy,  which  he 
confesses  to  have  written  without  Wit  or  Judgment.” — An  Hermetic 
Philosopher. 

4  “No  doubt  a  very  strange  Landscape,  and  not  unlike  that,  which 
Anthroposophus  has  made  of  the  invisible  Mountain  of  the  Philosophers .”  — 
Ibid. 

5  “They  have  made  Spectacles  to  read  Jacob  Boehmen  and  Ben  Israel 
with,  which,  like  those  Glasses  that  revert  the  Object,  will  turn  the 
wrong  End  of  their  Sentences  upwards,  and  make  them  look  like  Sense.” 
—Ibid. 

6  “The  best  you  may  suppose  is  laid  up  carefully  ;  for  he  always  tells 
you  what  he  could  tell  you,  whereby  it  appears  the  Purpose  of  his  Writing 


SUGGESTION  FOR  A  NEW  BUTLER^S  HUDIBRAS  541 


He  understood  the  speech  of  birds 
As  well  as  they  themselves  do  words  ; 

Could  tell  what  subtlest  parrots  mean, 

That  speak  and  think  contrary  clean  ; 

When  they  cry  Rope — and  Walk,  Knave,  Walk.1 
He’d  extract  numbers  out  of  matter, 

And  keep  them  in  a  glass,  like  water,2 
Of  sov’ reign  power  to  make  men  wise  ; 

For  dropt  in  blear  thick-sighted  eyes, 

They’d  make  them  see  in  darkest  night, 

Like  owls,  tho’  purblind  in  the  light.3 
By  help  of  these,  as  he  profest, 

He  had  first  matter  seen  undrest : 

He  took  her  naked,  all  alone, 

Before  one  rag  of  form  was  on. 

The  chaos  too  he  had  descry’ d, 

And  seen  quite  thro’,  or  else  he  lied  : 

Not  that  of  pasteboard,  which  men  shew 
For  groats,  at  fair  of  Barth ol’ mew  ; 


P.  i.,  C.  1,  11.  525-566. 

is  but  to  let  you  know  that  he  knows,  which  if  you  can  but  attain  to,  you 
are  sufficiently  learned,  and  may  pass  for  vere  adeptus  though  otherwise  he 
will  not  allow  any  Man  to  be  free  of  the  Philosophers,  that  has  not  only 
served  out  his  Time  to  a  Furnace,  but  can  cant  and  spit  Fire  like  a 
Jugler.” — Ibid. 

1  “.  .  .  for  they  profess  to  understand  the  Language  of  Beasts  and  Birds, 
as  they  say  Solomon  did,  else  he  never  would  have  said — The  Fowls  of  the 
Air  can  discover  Treason  against  Princes .” — Ibid. 

2  “Though  they  believe  their  own  Senses  base  and  unworthy  of  their 
Notice  (like  that  delicate  Roman,  who  being  put  in  his  Litter  by  his 
Servants,  asked,  whether  he  sat  or  no)  yet  they  never  apply  themselves  to 
any  Thing  abstruse  or  subtile,  but  with  much  Caution  ;  and  commonly 
resolve  all  Questions  of  that  Nature  by  Numbers — Monades,  Triadcs ,  and 
Decades,  are  with  them  a  kind  of  philosophical  Fulhams,  with  which,  like 
cunning  Gamesters,  they  can  throw  what  they  please,  and  be  sure  to  win, 
for  no  Body  can  disprove  them.” — Ibid. 

u  These  Numbers  they  believe  to  be  the  better  sort  of  Spirits,  by  the 
Largeness  of  their  Dominion,  which  extends  from  beyond  the  intelligible 
World,  through  all  the  inferior  Worlds,  to  the  Center,  which  is  the 
uttermost  bound  of  their  Empire  that  Way.” — Ibid. 

3  “ .  .  .  they  are  very  sovereign  to  clear  the  Eyes  of  the  Mind,  and  make 
a  blear-eyed  Intellect  see  like  a  Cat  in  the  Dark,  though  it  be  stark  blind 
in  the  Light.” — Ibid. 


542 


EDWAKD  CHAUNCEY  BALDWIN 


All  this  without  th’  eclipse  of  th’  sun, 

Or  dreadful  comet,  he  hath  done 
By  inward  light,1  a  way  as  good, 

And  easy  to  be  understood  : 

But  with  more  lucky  hit  than  those 
That  use  to  make  the  stars  depose, 

Like  Knights  o’  th’  Post,2  and  falsely  charge 
Upon  themselves  what  others  forge  ; 

As  if  they  were  consenting  to 
All  mischiefs  in  the  world  men  do  : 

1  “But  after  so  many  Precepts  and  Rules  delivered  with  the  greatest 
Confidence  and  Presumption  of  Certainty,  they  will  tell  you,  that  this  Art 
is  not  to  be  attained  but  by  divine  Revelation,  and  only  to  be  expected  by 
holy  and  sanctified  Persons,  that  have  left  behind  them  all  the  Concern¬ 
ments  of  this  World  ;  whereby  it  seems,  this  Shadow  of  Art  follows  those  that 
fly  it,  and  flies  from  those  that  follow  it.” — Ibid. 

2  “He  keeps  as  many  Knights  of  the  Post  to  swear  for  him,  as  the  King 
does  poor  Knights  at  Windsor  to  pray  for  him.” — A  Litigious  Man. 

“A  Knight  of  the  Post 

Is  a  retailer  of  Oaths,  a  Deposition-Monger,  an  Evidence-Maker  that 
lives  by  the  Labour  of  his  Conscience.  He  takes  Money  to  kiss  the 
Gospel,  as  Judas  did  Christ,  when  he  betrayed  him.  As  a  good  conscience 
is  a  continual  Feast ;  so  an  ill  one  is  with  him  his  daily  Food.  He  plys 
at  a  Court  of  J ustice,  as  Porters  do  at  a  Market ;  and  his  Business  is  to 
bear  Witness,  as  they  do  Burthens,  for  any  man  that  will  pay  them  for  it. 
He  will  swear  his  Ears  through  an  Inch-Board,  and  wears  them  merely 
by  Favour  of  the  Court  ;  for  being  Amicus  curiae ,  they  are  willing  to  let 
him  keep  the  Pillory  out  of  Possession,  though  he  has  forfeited  his  Right 
never  so  often  ;  For  when  he  is  once  outed  of  his  Ears,  he  is  past  his 
Labour,  and  can  do  the  Commonwealth  of  Practisers  no  more  Service.  He 
is  a  false  Weight  in  the  Ballance  of  Justice  ;  and  as  a  Lawyer’s  Tongue  is 
the  Tongue  of  the  Ballance,  that  inclines  either  Way,  according  as  the 
Weight  of  the  Bribe  inclines  it,  so  does  his.  He  lays  one  Hand  on  the 
Book,  and  the  other  in  the  Plaintiff’s  or  Defendant’s  Pocket.  He  feeds 
upon  His  Conscience,  as  a  Monkey  eats  his  Tail.  Pie  kisses  the  Book  to 
show  he  renounces,  and  takes  his  leave  of  it — Many  a  parting  Kiss  has  he 
given  the  Gospel.  He  pollutes  it  with  his  Lips  oftener  than  a  Hypocrite. 
He  is  a  sworn  Officer  of  every  Court,  and  a  great  Practiser  ;  is  admitted 
within  the  Bar,  and  makes  good  what  the  rest  of  the  Council  say.  The 
Attorney  and  Solicitor  fee  and  instruct  him  in  the  Case ;  and  he  ventures 
as  far  for  his  Client,  as  any  Man,  to  be  laid  by  the  Ears  :  He  speaks  more 
to  the  Point  than  any  other,  yet  gives  false  Ground  to  his  Brethren  of  the 


SUGGESTION  FOE  A  NEW  BUTLEE's  HUDIBEAS  543 


Or,  like  the  devil,  did  tempt  and  sway  ’em1 
To  rogueries,  and  then  betray  ’em. 

They’ll  search  a  planet’s  house,  to  know 
Who  broke  and  robbed  a  house  below  ; 

Examine  Venus  and  the  Moon, 

Who  stole  a  thimble  or  a  spoon  ; 

And  though  they  nothing  will  confess, 

Yet  by  their  very  looks  can  guess,2 
And  tell  what  guilty  aspect  bodes, 

Who  stole,  and  who  received  the  goods  : 

They’ll  question  Mars,  and,  by  his  look, 

Detect  who  ’twas  that  nimmed  a  cloak  ; 

Make  Mercury  confess,  and  ’peach 
Those  thieves  which  he  himself  did  teach. 

They’ll  find,  i’  th’  physiognomies 
O’  th’  planets,  all  men’s  destinies  ; 

Like  him  that  took  the  doctor’s  bill, 

And  swallow’d  it  instead  o’  th’  pill. 

Jury,  that  they  seldom  come  near  the  Jack.  His  Oaths  are  so  brittle, 
that  not  one  in  twenty  of  them  will  hold  the  Taking,  but  fly  as  soon  as 
they  are  out.  He  is  worse  than  an  ill  Conscience  ;  for  that  bears  true 
Witness,  but  his  is  always  false,  and  though  his  own  Conscience  be  said  to 
be  a  thousand  Witnesses,  he  will  out-swear  and  out-face  them  all.  He 
believes  it  no  Sin  to  bear  false  Witness  for  his  Neighbour,  that  pays  him 
for  it,  because  it  is  not  forbidden,  but  only  to  bear  false  Witness  against 
his  Neighbour.” 

1  “These  Influences,  they  would  make  us  believe,  are  a  Kind  of  little 
invisible  Midwives,  which  the  Stars  employ  at  the  Nativities  of  Men,  to 
swathe  and  bind  up  their  Spirits  ....  And  yet  it  should  seem,  these  In¬ 
fluences  are  but  a  kind  of  Mock-desfomes,  whose  Business  it  is  to  tamper 
with  all  Men,  but  compel  none. — This  the  learned  call  inclining  not 
necessitating.  They  have  a  small  precarious  Empire,  wholly  at  the  Will 
of  the  Subject ;  they  can  raise  no  Men  but  only  Volunteers,  for  their  Power 
does  not  extend  to  press  any.  Their  Jurisdiction  is  only  to  invite  Men  to 
the  Gallows,  or  the  Pillory  in  a  civil  Way,  but  force  none  so  much  as  to  a 
Whipping,  unless,  like  Catholic  Penitents,  they  have  a  mind  to  it,  and 
will  lay  it  on  themselves.  They  are  very  like,  if  not  the  same,  to  the 
Temptations  of  the  Devil  .  .  .  .” — An  Hermetic  Philosopher. 

2  “He  talks  with  them  by  dumb  Signs,  and  can  tell  what  they  mean  by 
their  twinckling  and  squinting  upon  one  another,  as  well  as  they  them¬ 
selves.  He  is  a  Spy  upon  the  Stars,  and  can  tell  what  they  are  doing  by 
the  Company  they  keep,  and  the  Houses  they  frequent.” — An  Astrologer . 


544 


EDWARD  CHAUNCEY  BALDWIN 


Cast  the  nativity  of  the  question, 

And  from  positions  to  be  guest  on, 

As  sure  as  if  they  knew  the  moment 
Of  Native’s  birth,  tell  what  will  come  on  ’t. 1 
They’ll  feel  the  pulses  of  the  stars, 

To  find  out  agues,  coughs,  catarrhs  ; 

And  tell  what  crisis  does  divine 
The  rot  in  sheep,  or  mange  in  swine  ; 

What  gains,  or  loses,  hangs,  or  saves, 

What  makes  men  great,  what  fools,  or  knaves  ; 

But  not  what  wise,  for  only  ’f  those 
The  stars,  they  say,  cannot  dispose, 

No  more  than  can  the  astrologians  : 

There  they  say  right,  and  like  true  Trojans.2 

P.  i.,  C.  1,  11.  577-620. 

Synods  are  mystical  bear-gardens, 

Where  elders,  deputies,  church-wardens,3 
And  other  members  of  the  court, 

Manage  the  Babylonish  sport. 

P.  i.,  C.  3,  11.  1095-8. 

1  “  They  have  found  out  an  admirable  Way  to  decide  all  Contro- 
versaries,  and  resolve  Doubts  of  the  greatest  Difficulty  by  Way  of  horary 
Questions,  for  as  the  learned  Astrologers,  observing  the  Impossibility  of 
knowing  the  exact  Moment  of  any  Man’s  Birth,  do  use  very  prudently  to 
cast  the  Nativity  of  the  Question  (like  him,  that  swallowed  the  Doctor’s  bill 
instead  of  the  Medicine)  and  find  the  Answer  as  certain  and  infallible,  as 
if  they  had  known  the  very  Instant,  in  which  the  Native,  as  they  call 
him,  crept  into  the  World.” — An  Hermetic  Philosopher. 

2  “As  little  Good  as  Hurt  can  they  do  any  Man  against  his  Will — they 
cannot  make  a  private  Man  a  Prince,  unless  he  have  a  very  strong  Desire 
to  be  so  ;  nor  make  any  Man  happy  in  any  Condition  whatsoever,  unless 
his  own  Liking  concur.  ...  As  for  the  Wise,  the  Learned  tell  us,  they 
have  nothing  to  do  with  them  ;  and  if  they  make  any  Attempt  upon  them, 
it  is  to  no  Purpose  :  for  when  they  incline  a  Man  to  be  a  Knave,  and  pre¬ 
vail  upon  him,  he  must  be  a  Fool  (for  they  have  no  Power  over  the  Wise) 
and  so  all  their  Labour  is  lost.” — Ibid. 

3  “A  Church-Warden 

Is  a  public  Officer,  intrusted  to  rob  the  Church  by  Virtue  of  his  Place,  as 
long  as  he  is  in  it.  He  has  a  very  great  Care  to  eat  and  drink  well  upon 
all  public  Occasions,  that  concern  the  Parish  :  for  a  good  Conscience  being  a 
perpetual  Feast,  he  believes,  the  better  he  feeds,  the  more  Conscience  he 
uses  in  the  Discharge  of  his  Trust ;  and  as  long  as  there  is  no  Dry-money- 
cheat  used,  all  others  are  allowed,  according  to  the  Tradition  and  Practice 


SUGGESTION  FOE  A  NEW  BUTLEE's  HUDIBEAS  545 


That  Saints  may  claim  a  dispensation 
To  swear  and  forswear  on  occasion, 

I  doubt  not  but  it  will  appear 

With  pregnant  light :  the  point  is  clear. 

Oaths  are  but  words,  and  words  but  wind,1 
Too  feeble  instruments  to  bind  ; 

And  hold  with  deeds  proportion  so 
As  shadows  to  a  substance  do. 

P.  ii.,  C.  2,  11.  103-110. 

But  they  are  weak,  and  little  know 
What  free-born  consciences  may  do. 

’Tis  the  temptation  of  the  devil 
That  makes  all  human  actions  evil  : 

For  saints  may  do  the  same  thing  by 
The  spirit,  in  sincerity, 

of  the  Church  in  the  purest  Times.  When  he  lays  a  tax  upon  the  Parish 
he  commonly  raises  it  a  fourth  Part  above  the  Accompt,  to  supply  the 
Default  of  Houses  that  may  be  burnt,  or  stand  empty  ;  or  Men  that  may 
break  and  run  away  ;  and  if  none  of  these  happen,  his  Fortune  is  the 
greater,  and  his  Hazard  never  the  less  ;  and  therefore  he  divides  the 
Overplus  between  himself  and  his  Colleagues,  who  were  engaged  to  pay  the 
whole,  if  all  the  Parish  had  run  away,  or  hanged  themselves.  He  over¬ 
reckons  the  Parish  in  his  Accompts,  as  the  Taverns  do  him,  and  keeps  the 
odd  Money  himself,  instead  of  giving  it  to  the  Drawers.  He  eats  up  the 
Bell-ropes  like  the  Ass  in  the  Emblem,  and  converts  the  broken  Glass- 
Windows  into  whole  Beer-Glasses  of  Sack  ;  and  before  his  Year  is  out,  if 
he  be  but  as  good  a  Fellow  as  the  drinking  Bishop  was,  pledges  a  whole 
Pulpit  full.  If  the  Church  happen  to  fall  to  decay  in  his  Time,  it  proves 
a  Deodand  to  him  ;  for  he  is  Lord  of  the  Manor,  and  does  not  make  only 
make  what  he  pleases  of  it,  but  has  his  Name  recorded  on  the  Walls 
among  Texts  of  Scripture  and  leathern  Buckets,  with  the  Year  of  his 
Office,  that  the  Memory  of  the  Unjust,  as  well  as  the  Just  may  last  as 
long  as  so  transitory  a  Thing  may.  He  interprets  his  Oath  as  Catholics  do 
the  Scripture,  not  according  to  the  Sense  and  Meaning  of  the  Words,  but 
the  Tradition  and  Practice  of  his  Predecessors  ;  who  have  always  been 
observed  to  swear  what  other  please,  and  do  what  they  please  themselves.” 

1  “And  therefore  promises  ought  to  oblige  those  only  to  whom  they  are 
made,  not  those  who  make  them  ;  for  he  that  expects  a  Man  should  bind 
himself  is  worse  than  a  thief,  who  does  that  Service  for  him,  after  he  has 
robbed  him  on  the  High-way.  Promises  are  but  W7ords,  and  Words  Air, 
which  no  Man  can  claim  a  Propriety  in,  but  is  equally  free  to  all  and 
incapable  of  being  confined  ;  .  .  .” — A  Modern  Politician. 


546 


EDWARD  CHAUNCEY  BALDWIN 


Which  other  men  are  tempted  to, 

And  at  the  devil’s  instance  do  ; 

And  yet  the  actions  be  contrary, 

Just  as  the  saints  and  wicked  vary. 

For  as  on  land  there  is  no  beast 
But  in  some  fish  at  sea’s  exprest  ; 

So  in  the  wicked  there’s  no  vice, 

Of  which  the  saints  have  not  a  spice  ; 

And  yet  that  thing  that’s  pins  in 
The  one,  in  th’  other  is  a  sin.1 

P.  ii.,  C.  2,  11.  231-246. 

Synods  are  whelps  o’  th’  Inquisition, 

A  mongrel  breed  of  like  pernicion, 

And  growing  up,  became  the  sires 
Of  scribes,  commissioners,  and  triers  ; 

Whose  business  is,  by  cunning  sleight, 

To  cast  a  figure  for  men’s  light ; 

To  find,  in  lines  of  beard  and  face, 

The  physiognomy  of  grace  ; 

And  by  the  sound  and  twang  of  nose, 

If  all  be  sound  within,  disclose, 

Free  from  a  crack,  or  flaw  of  sinning, 

As  men  try  pipkins  by  the  ringing  ; 

By  black  caps  underlaid  with  white, 

1  “  For  as  strong  Bodies  may  freely  venture  to  do  and  suffer  that,  with¬ 
out  any  Hurt  to  themselves,  which  would  destroy  those  that  are  feeble  : 
so  a  Saint,  that  is  strong  in  Grace,  may  boldly  engage  himself  in  those 
great  Sins  and  Iniquities,  that  would  easily  damn  a  weak  brother,  and  yet 
come  off  never  the  worse.” — A  Banter. 

“He  preaches  the  Gospel  in  despite  of  itself  ;  for  though  there  can  be 
no  Character  so  true  and  plain  of  him,  as  that  which  is  there  copied  from 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees ,  yet  he  is  not  so  weak  a  brother  to  apply  any 
Thing  to  himself,  that  is  not  perfectly  agreeable  to  his  own  Purposes  ;  nor 
so  mean  an  Interpreter  of  Scripture,  that  he  cannot  relieve  himself,  when 
he  is  prest  home  with  a  Text,  especially  where  his  own  Conscience  is 
Judge  :  For  what  Privilege  have  the  Saints  more  than  the  Wicked,  if  they 
cannot  dispense  with  themselves  in  such  Cases?” — An  Hypocritical  Non¬ 
conformist. 

“He  canonises  himself  a  Saint  in  his  own  Life-time,  as  Homitian  made 
himself  a  God  ;  and  enters  his  Name  in  the  Rubric  of  his  Church  by 
Virtue  of  a  Pick-lock,  which  he  has  invented,  and  believes  will  serve  his 
Turn,  as  well  as  St.  Peter’s  Keys.” — An  Anabaptist. 


SUGGESTION  FOE  A  NEW  BUTLER  S  HUDIBRAS 


547 


Give  certain  guess  at  inward  light ; 

Which  serjeants  at  the  Gospel  wear, 

To  make  the  sp’ ritual  calling  clear. 

The  handkerchief  about  the  neck —  1 
Canonical  cravat  of  smeck, 

From  whom  the  institution  came, 

When  church  and  state  they  set  on  flame, 

And  worn  by  them  as  badges  then 
Of  spiritual  warfaring-men — 

Judge  rightly  if  regeneration 
Be  of  the  newest  cut  in  fashion  : 

Sure  ’tis  an  orthodox  opinion, 

That  grace  is  founded  in  dominion. 

Great  piety  consists  in  pride  ; 

To  rule  is  to  be  sanctified  : 

To  domineer,  and  to  control 
Both  o’er  the  body  and  the  soul, 

Is  the  most  perfect  discipline 
Of  church-rule,  and  by  right  divine. 

Bell  and  the  Dragon’s  chaplains  were, 

More  moderate  than  those  by  far  : 

For  they,  poor  knaves,  were  glad  to  cheat, 

To  get  their  wives  and  children  meat  ; 

But  these  will  not  be  fobb’s  off  so, 

They  must  have  wealth  and  power  too  ; 

Or  else  with  blood  and  desolation, 

They’ll  tear  it  out  o’  th’  heart  o’  th’  nation.2 

P.  i.,  C.  3,  11.1154-1188. 

1  “The  handkerchief,  he  wore  about  his  neck  at  the  institution  of  his 
order  here,  was  a  type,  that  in  process  of  time,  he  should  be  troubled  with 
a  sore  throat,  and  since  it  is  fulfill’d.” — A  Silenc’d  Presbyterian. 

2  “He  never  forsook  him  in  his  greatest  Extremities,  but  eat  and  drunk 
truly  and  faithfully  upon  him,  when  he  knew  not  how  to  do  so  anywhere 
else  :  for  all  the  service  he  was  capable  of  doing  his  Master  was  the  very 
same  with  that  of  Bel  and  the  Dragon’s  Clerks,  to  eat  up  his  meat,  and 
drink  up  his  Drink  for  him.” — A  Risker. 

“David  was  eaten  up  with  the  Zeal  of  God’s  House;  but  his  Zeal 
quite  contrary  eats  up  God’s  House  ;  and  as  the  words  seem  to  intimate, 
that  David  fed  and  maintained  the  Priests  ;  so  he  makes  the  Priests  feed 
and  maintain  him  .  .  .  .” — A  Zealot. 

“.  .  .  for  he  thinks  that  no  man  ought  to  be  much  concerned  in  it 
(religion)  but  Hypocrites,  and  such  as  make  it  their  Calling  and  Pro- 

9 


548 


EDWARD  CHAUNCEY  BALDWIN 


This  zealot 

Is  of  a  mungrel  diverse  kind, 

Cleric  before,  and  lay  behind  ; 

A  lawless  linsey-woolsey  brother, 

Half  of  one  order,  half  another  ; 

A  creature  of  amphibious  nature, 

On  land  a  beast,  a  fish  in  water  ; 1 
That  always  preys  on  grace,  or  sin  ; 

A  sheep  without,  a  wolf  within. 

P.  i.,  C.  3,  11.  1224-1232. 

Partly  because  Butler  was  a  Royalist,  and  because  the 
Royalists  seem  to  us  now  to  have  been  on  the  wrong  side  of 
the  politics  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  partly,  also,  because 
Hudibras  has  suffered  from  being  classed  as  a  political  satire, 
the  poem  seems  in  danger  of  becoming  a  neglected,  if  not  a 
forgotten  book.  To  rescue  from  the  neglect  and  oblivion 
into  which  it  seems  in  danger  of  falling  the  wittiest  poem  in 
the  language,  and  really  the  only  work  of  sustained  poetical 
genius  that  the  Cavaliers  had  to  offset  the  Puritan  epic  of 
;  Paradise  Lost ,  would  be  indeed  a  worthy  task.  In  such  an 
undertaking  the  possible  uses  of  the  prose  Characters  in 
revealing  the  author’s  satiric  method,  and  in  explaining 
allusions  to  the  life  of  the  time,  should  be  considered.  Since 
the  Characters  are  now  in  print;  and  since,  upon  even  a 
hasty  examination,  they  seem  to  furnish  an  illuminating 
commentary  upon  the  text  of  Hudibras ,  there  appears  no 
reason  why  they  should  not  be  utilized  at  once  in  the 
preparation  of  a  new  edition  of  the  poem. 

Edward  Chauncey  Baldwin. 


fession  ;  who,  though  they  do  not  live  by  their  Faith,  like  the  Righteous, 
do  that  which  is  nearest  to  it,  get  their  living  by  it ;  .  .  — A  Modern 

Politician. 

luAn  Anabaptist  is  a  Water-Saint,  that  like  a  Crocodile,  sees  clearly 
in  the  Water,  but  Dully  on  Land.” — An  Anabaptist. 


•••■=  •  •  -  my.  •  '■■  ■■••  ■-  -v-  ,  •  --'V-'  'v;  -;; 


I 


